


To Be A Coach

by Crystara



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fluff, More characters to come, More tags to be added, Post-Canon, Russian Skating Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-10-15 03:50:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17521454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystara/pseuds/Crystara
Summary: After Barcelona, Yuuri and Victor move to St. Petersburg and Victor begins the next part of his career. Here are stories of those days and the people who love and support him and who he loves and supports.





	1. Dreamers

**Author's Note:**

> So I have a lot of feelings about Victor's future as a coach and so I'm writing snippets of that life. These are all in the same universe, but may not always be in the correct time order. I'll try to make sure I indicate where they fall in the timeline.
> 
> Eventually Yuri and the other Russian skaters as well as the other YoI cast will show up.
> 
> I'm new to sharing my stories online and have no beta, so please be kind if you see typos and mistakes!

Victor leans back against the boards watching the ice with Yakov. They have their eyes locked onto a young woman skating just across from them. Yakov is considering bringing her onto his team and wants Victor’s opinion. They murmur quietly to each other to ensure that she will not hear them and get even more nervous than the poor child already is. 

After the Barcelona medal ceremony, Victor and Yuuri had returned to their hotel room, sat on their beds facing each other, and finally talked to each other about the assumptions that had caused them both so much pain. It had taken hours to work through all the months of not talking, but after tears had been shed and hugs shared, conclusions had been reached. Coaching and competing at the same time would be nearly impossible without a solid support system. Yuuri knew that the Katsukis and Nishigoris along with Minako-sensei would support them, but they weren’t internationally recognized and sanctioned figure skating coaches. Victor was going to need Yakov. 

The next morning, Victor texted Yakov and asked him to meet for breakfast. Yuuri stayed behind in the hotel room to give them space. Three hours later a disheveled Victor burst through the door and fell into Yuuri’s arms, sobbing loudly. Yuuri nearly panicked and dropped him, but Victor managed to choke out, “He agreed!” in between his sobs. Once Victor was calm and able to speak, he explained to Yuuri that Yakov had agreed to help Victor coach Yuuri while they both competed. After the next Olympics, Victor would retire and, here Victor started to cry again, Yakov had offered to keep Yuuri on as his student while Victor became one of his assistant coaches and choreographers. Yuuri wrapped his arms around Victor and held him while they both cried; even in their wildest imaginings the night before they hadn’t dared hope that Yakov would go that far. 

“Stupid boy. As if I would let you go off on your own with no help after all these years,” Yakov had snapped at Victor before pulling him into a hug. “You are my skater and my boy and I’m proud to help you move forward,” he had grumbled into Victor’s shoulder.

Now in the off-season before Victor’s final competition year, Yuuri and Victor are participating in an ice show and Yakov has come with them to evaluate some young skaters in the area. Yuuri hadn’t done many ice shows previously as he’d had classes when it wasn’t competition season, but Victor adores ice shows. They let skaters show off some things that aren’t competition legal, or skills that maybe aren’t solid enough for competition yet. Victor’s first public quad flip had been at an ice show and he had fond memories of some very flippant routines from his teen years. Yuuri and Victor were each performing a solo and also getting to perform Duetto: Stammi Vicino again. And of course there will be the ending group choreography, which Victor is creating and which has kept him up for a week as what do you do new with 15 skaters on the ice?

Yuuri warms up across the rink from Yakov and Victor. He loves watching these moments between them. Over the last few months, Yakov and Yuuri have come to a mutual understanding and odd friendship. They both recognize how much Victor needs them in his life, Yakov for focus and discipline and Yuuri to hold and love. And Yakov appreciates Yuuri’s dedication to the art and history of skating. Which is not to say Yakov never bellows at Yuuri. He most certainly does. Especially when Yuuri is crashing down on the ice for the tenth time while practicing his salchow. Victor remains Yuuri’s primary coach, however Yakov’s decades of experience are invaluable and he’s learned that the bellowing hides Yakov’s soft heart.

“Enough,” Yakov’s voice cuts across the rink, “that will do Ekaterina. Let us see your sit spin and last step sequence again.” The young girl nods and takes off to gain some speed before performing right in front of them. Yakov and Victor nod at each other and Victor pushes off the wall to skate towards her. Yakov watches carefully as Victor starts to offer suggestions about foot placement and posture. Ekaterina appears to listen carefully and moves with Victor as they run through the step sequence together with Victor’s corrections. Yakov nods again, the girl will do well under their program and he turns away from the rink to speak with her parents.

“I will take her on,” he states to the couple who have been watching nervously, “and she will work with me and Victor Yakovlevich.” The woman gasps and grabs at her husband’s hands.

“Thank you Coach Feltsman. It’s all Katya ever talks about,” the man responds.

“Come. We will go over price, contracts, and rules. She can stay with Vitya while we handle this and we will speak with her together when we are done.” Yakov leads the couple away from rinkside and towards some tables the organizers have set up for these conversations. It’s not his office, but it will do.

Yuuri smiles at Victor as he watches Ekaterina’s face. The young girl is biting her lip watching her parents walk away with Yakov. She keeps glancing between where they are and up at Victor’s face, clearly trying to decide how much hope she should allow herself. Victor looks down at her and suddenly his heart shaped smile lights up the whole rink. 

“Da Ekaterina. Da.”

The girl gasps, her hands flying up to cover her face as her shoulders shake. She flings her arms out and wraps them around Victor’s waist. “I won’t let you down Coach Nikiforov!” she cries into his shirt.

Victor stifles a gasp of his own, still not used to the title. One hand comes up to pat the back of her head while the other covers his trembling lips. He glances over at Yuuri who has his hand over his watery smile as well. 

A dream has just come true and that never gets old.


	2. Late Nights and Early Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning life as an assistant coach

Yuuri rubs his eyes as he slowly emerges from his blanket cocoon. He blinks at the clock on his nightstand and pulls it closer to confirm his fears. Placing it back on the stand, he flops backwards in bed and gazes up at the ceiling gathering his fortitude against the chill. Finally, with a small groan, he rolls over and shoves his feet out of the covers, hissing as they encounter the floor.

He stumbles towards the light spilling out of the living room and drapes himself against the door jamb as standing is just too much effort to make at 3 am. “Vitya,” he mumbles, “come to bed.”

Victor looks up from where he has sprawled across the living room floor surrounded by notebooks, loose paper, a laptop, his phone, and a tablet. Even from across the room, and without his glasses, Yuuri can see the little wrinkle develop in the middle of Victor’s forehead. “What time is it?” he asks.

“It’s 3 am Vitya. You need to rest. Please.”

Victor looks down at his work and sighs before looking back at Yuuri and nodding as he stands. “I’m sorry love, time got away from me and I’m still stuck on Yurio’s short program.” He frowns down at the scattered papers, “I want to do something that will challenge him, but those growth spurts are throwing me off. His knees…” Victor trails off as he glances over to Yuuri.

Yuuri nods. Yurio had shot up 3 cm over the last two months and his body was in nearly constant pain. He had also lost track of his center of gravity and spent more time on his back during jumps than on his feet. Consequently, Yakov and Victor were having to rework nearly everything and Yurio’s temper was beyond frayed. Everyone at the rink was either staying out of the way (Yuuri) or teasing him unmercifully (Mila). 

Yuuri links his arm through Victor’s, tugging him away from the piles of work and towards their bedroom. He was more asleep than awake still, but this was important. “I’ll take him to Lillia’s studio tomorrow,” Yuuri mumbles, “we’ll work on finding his center and that will give you time on ice to work on his routine. I know he’ll go with me if I phrase it as protecting me from Lillia.”

Victor snorts. Watching Yurio vacillate between over-protective baby brother and infuriated rink mate was one of life’s great joys. Yurio insults Yuuri to his face constantly, but they have both witnessed him tearing others apart for gossiping behind his back. Granted, they had witnessed those incidents from behind walls and would never mention them to Yurio, neither one wanting to have a water bottle chucked at their heads. Again. Still, the protective Ice Tiger warmed their hearts.

Victor slips into bed next to Yuuri, curling around his back and wrapping his arms around his waist. “Spasibo,” he murmurs as they drift off.

The alarm at 6 am is an unwelcome intrusion and Yuuri flails at it with one arm before rolling over and flinging the arm over his eyes. “Vitya.. Vitya,” he mumbles, poking at the shoulder next to him.

“Eugh,” is the clever response he receives before Victor rolls over and plants his feet out of bed. He shuffles towards the bathroom, tripping over the carpet on the way as he hasn’t bothered to open his eyes yet.

Yuuri lays in bed for another few minutes while Victor finishes his morning routine, then he pushes himself out of bed to exchange places with him while Victor heads out with Makkachin for the first walk of the day. Once done, Yuuri heads to the kitchen to finish pulling their to-go breakfasts together to eat on the way to the rink. He also pulls the prepared bento boxes out of the fridge and packs all four of them into his bag.

Makkachin barrels into the kitchen bouncing around Yuuri with excited boofs and wagging her tail so hard that her entire butt is wiggling. Yuuri laughs and holds her treat just above her nose, “Who’s the best pupper! Who’s the prettiest girl in the world,” he says. Makkachin sits down in front of Yuuri still wiggling her whole body around and Yuuri hands over the treat. He ruffles her ears as he turns to pick up his bag and head towards the front door to meet Victor.

Victor holds out Yuuri’s scarf and Yuuri ducks his head to allow Victor to place it around his neck and use the ends to tug him lightly forward. Yuuri lifts his chin slightly and Victor leans down to grant him the first kiss of the day. They stand together for just a moment, resting their foreheads together.

Victor recollects Makkachin’s leash and the three of them head out the door. Victor’s apartment (their apartment Yuuri corrects himself) is walking distance to the rink in all except the worst of the winter weather. Just far enough to be slightly warmed up before starting their workouts. Once inside, they head up to Yakov’s office where Makkachin’s heated dog bed now resides. 

“My best girl,” Victor coos as he releases her from the harness and puts down her bowl of water. Makkachin boofs again and curls up to rest. Victor wraps his freed hand around Yuuri’s waist and they head out to rinkside where shouting can already be heard.

“It’s only 7:30 am,” Yuuri mouths to Victor, “why is there yelling?”

Yuuri gets his answer 15 seconds later when he witnesses Yurio fling himself into a jump that Yuuri knows he has a zero percent chance of landing. Yuuri did that to himself just yesterday, the bruise on his hip twinging in sympathy. Yakov is bellowing and Yurio is cursing up a storm from where he landed on the ice more or less face first.

Victor sighs. Yuuri looks up at him and places one hand on his arm. “I got this,” he says and heads to the barrier. Victor blows him a kiss and heads around the rink to stand next to Yakov and get his orders for the day. Victor keeps one eye on Yuuri and Yurio while he’s chatting with Yakov and is relieved when Yurio storms off the ice and leaves the rink with Yuuri. Yakov raises an eyebrow at Victor.

“Going to the studio. Yuuri is channeling Minako-sensei and is going to make Yurio do pirouettes until he locates his center again.”

Yakov barks out a laugh and nods, “Good plan for Yura. It will save his knees and ankles and wear out some of the extra energy,” Yakov turns slightly to glare at Victor, “And what is this I hear of not sleeping?

Victor startles at that and raises one eyebrow, “How..?”

“Katsuki sent a text. He doesn't want me to let you kill yourself on the ice today.” Yakov says as he hands over the schedule of lessons for the day.

Victor chuckles, “I should have known he would say something. He packed a bento for you today also. He said he caught you eating out of the vending machine for lunch again”

Yakov can’t hide his smile. “That boy. You keep that boy happy Vitya.” Yakov shakes his head again as he walks back to his office.

“Working on it,” Victor calls after his coach before turning his attention to the practice list in his hands. He turns his attention to the five young skaters on the ice warming up and claps his hands to get their attention. “Everyone warmed up? Ok, then today we start with suicides. Go!” A chorus of groans greets his words, but the five youngsters slide into motion. Victor smiles, no one likes suicides, and looks down to finish reading Yakov’s orders for the morning workout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I accidentally changed tenses part way through and I think I've caught them all, but if you notice any errors, please nicely let me know so that I can fix them!


	3. To the Barre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interlude with friends

Yuri growls the entire way to the studios. Yuuri would laugh, but Yurio still has his skates with him and he doesn’t want to bleed all over Madame’s floor. He may not be as afraid of her as he was in the beginning, but Minako-sensei didn’t raise any idiots.

Once in the studio, Yuuri runs them both through Minoko-sensei’s warm up routine which Yuuri has done in his sleep. Several times at the height of competition and exam time if he’s honest about it. Yurio is quieter than normal and Yuuri just lets him work through whatever is on his mind.

“Oi. You didn’t actually need me here did you, Katsudon,” he suddenly barks out. Yuuri almost falls out of position in surprise, but again, Minako-sensei didn’t raise idiots and he holds onto the stretch.

“No. Madame Lillia told me I could use the space whenever it was empty two weeks ago,” he responds.

“Then why,” Yurio trails off frowning at him.

Yuuri smiles, his eyes crinkling up, “Because you’re not the first figure skater to grow suddenly and you won’t be the last. Minako-sensei sent me her lesson plans for when it happened to me.”

Yuuri’s spine straightens, head rising, and smile leaving his face. “Now then, to the barre.”

Yurio draws in a breath as the ghosts of both Madame Minako and Madame Lillia’s lessons settle over Yuuri. Yurio knew the next hour was going to be awful, but at the end he’ll have his center back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri and Yurio demanded this scene from me even though I'm supposed to be focusing on Victor. I'm not saying they are dramatic.. but well..

**Author's Note:**

> Part one! Let me know what you think? Part two is started, but I'm not sure when it will be out.


End file.
